The head of the working group on coordination of assistance to Ukraine under the German Defence Ministry, Major General Christian Freuding said that the expectations of the Ukrainians and their allies regarding the summer counter-offensive did not materialise because of a serious mine obstruction of the Russian Armed Forces.
According to Christian Freuding, among other reasons for the failure of the counter-offensive of the AFU can be highlighted mediocre air defence, lack of air support, as well as impassable high-density mine barriers by the RF Armed Forces.
“Like the Ukrainians themselves, perhaps we had inflated expectations in the summer and autumn. Why did they not materialise? It is due to the lack of air support, the lack of local superiority and the lack of air defences to escort attacking forces from air threats. Finally, there are Russian minefields that are beyond imagination: a density of up to 17 mines per square metre and a length of up to 10 by 3 kilometres,” he told Welt am Sonntag.
The German general noted that at the moment the Russian Army has a military advantage on the line of contact. He stressed that he did not see it possible to predict the development and outcome of the conflict in Ukraine because of the complexity of miscalculations and the presence of many factors.
Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin said during a visit to servicemen at the Vishnevskyy hospital that Russia intended to end the conflict in Ukraine, but on its own terms. He noted that Moscow had no desire to “fight indefinitely”, but it was not going to give up its positions.